Waffle House Inspired Short Stories

Here we are with a special Saturday edition of the blog. I’m so excited to have a short story “Sassy Franklin’s Divine Dinner” in the short-story anthology Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House. The guidelines for the story said it had to be noir. What? Gulp! But I had fun exploring a darker side of writing. Sassy Franklin popped into my head right away. Her associates followed shortly and soon I was writing and revising. I love Sassy and managed to sneak in a bit of humor.

Micheal Bracken, who is the co-editor of the anthology along with Stacy Woodson, agreed to answer some of my questions about the anthology.

How did you come up with the idea to have the theme of the short stories involve Waffle House?

The original idea was Stacy’s. I pitched it to Down & Out Books, and then we worked together to write the guidelines and invite the contributors.

How did the authors respond to the idea?

Most of the writers we approached were receptive to the idea, and I think several of them had fun with their stories.

How many anthologies have you two worked on together?

We’re currently working on our third as co-editors, but Stacy has contributed to several other anthologies I’ve edited.

Scattered, Smothered, Covered, and Chunked was the first of the three published; the second is nearly finished; and we recently sent guidelines to potential contributors for the third.

Including our three together, I’ve edited or co-edited thirty-two anthologies.

Will you do more restaurant-themed anthologies?

I previously co-edited Guns + Tacos with Trey R. Barker, a series about a taco truck in Chicago, so it’s possible I might do another restaurant-themed anthology. However, there are none on the current to-do list.

What is the hardest part of putting an anthology like this together?

The hardest part is editing the work of a dozen or more writers. All writers have different strengths and weaknesses, and the goal in editing their stories is two-fold. The first is to ensure that each story is the best it can be. The second is to ensure that each story fits the overall theme of the anthology.

What part of the process is the most fun?

The most fun is usually coming up with an anthology concept, one that appeals to writers and that readers can easily grasp with a good title or good title/sub-title combination.

I also had a great deal of fun writing “Windfall,” my contribution to the anthology. I managed to include all four elements from the anthology’s title into the story.

Who comes up with the cover art?

Usually, the publisher comes up with the cover art, based on ideas we present. In this case, the cover was designed by Angela Carlton, a graphic designer Stacy has worked with on other projects and who I first worked with on promotional material for ShortCon.

Readers: Have you ever been to a Waffle House? Is there another restaurant chain you think would be good for an anthology?

About the book: There’s no closing time for crime.

Editors Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson order up hardboiled and noir stories by talented and award-winning crime-fiction writers.

Tales of redemption, revenge, and rebirth fill these pages, and each story serves someone (or something) scattered or smothered or covered or chunked. If Michelin rated crime (not food), the diners in these stories would all be three-star establishments.

On the menu, you’ll find stories by: J.D. Allen, Donna Andrews, Ann Aptaker, Mark Bergin, Michael Bracken, Austin S. Camacho, Tammy Euliano, Nils Gilbertson, Sherry Harris, Hugh Lessig, Sean McCluskey, Deb Merino, Penny Mickelbury, Alan Orloff, Bonnar Spring, and Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

You will never look at a roadside eatery the same way again.

Bios:

Michael Bracken (www.CrimeFictionWriter.com) is the Edgar Award and Shamus Award nominated, Derringer Award-winning author of almost 1,300 short stories, including crime fiction published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Best American Mystery Stories, The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, and many other publications. Additionally, Bracken is the editor of Black Cat Mystery Magazine and editor or co-editor of thirty-two published and forthcoming anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods. In 2024, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his contributions to Texas literature. He lives, writes, and edits in Texas.

Stacy Woodson is a U.S. Army veteran and former paratrooper. Memories of her time in the military are often a source of inspiration for her stories. She made her crime fiction debut in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s Department of First Stories and won the Readers Award—the second time in the award’s history that a debut took first place. Since then, she’s published nearly forty stories in various anthologies and publications, one adapted for animation. She’s a two-time Derringer winner for best short story (four-time nominee), a Thriller and Macavity Award nominee,and appeared in The Best Mysteries of the Year. When she’s not writing, she co-edits anthologies with Michael Bracken, teaches at Outliers Writing University and works as background talent for movies and television. Past projects include Showtime’s Homeland, Amazon’s Jack Ryan, AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Wonder Woman 1984, and Terminal List: Dark Wolf.